Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Nationalisation has become the word British politicians dare not say, and the reason they give is always the same: it is unaffordable.
They claim that just taking water back into public ownership would cost over £100 billion, but that claim is outright nonsense, and it is worth understanding exactly why.
The trick is in what "cost" means. When we nationalised industries in the 1940s, we did not hand over a mountain of cash. We paid with government bonds, typically at 3% interest, repayable over thirty years or more, and in practice then rolled into the national debt.
The real cost of nationalisation is, then, nothing more than the interest on those bonds, and a nationalised business bought at a fair price should always be able to cover that from its own surplus. There is, then, no cash payout, and no one is "buying" anything at a fantasy price.
What might that mean for the water industry? Private investors and lenders have sunk around £100 billion into it, but the industry is not worth that now. Its shares are often worthless, and a fair price would reflect its current, depreciated value. That means shareholders accept their losses and lenders would take a haircut, meaning they get back part of what they lent. They knew the risk when they invested in a privatised monopoly, and they should accept the consequence.
The case for doing this is straightforward. Nationalisation protects essential services that are too important to fail. It lets us invest in their future at the lowest possible cost, because government borrowing is cheaper than private borrowing. And it future-proofs water, rail, energy, and other sectors against a repeat of the calamities privatisation has already delivered.
Nationalisation is not the problem. The misinformation about its cost is.
Take a look at the poll below: youtube.com/post/UgkxmTvtrVV2kPfirRVtkcZAZtUsO4mwETk3
00:00 Why Is Nationalisation a Taboo?
00:50 Why Essential Services Cannot Be Allowed to Fail
01:42 The Myth That Nationalisation Is Unaffordable
02:34 How Britain Nationalised Industries After 1945
03:29 Why Nationalisation Doesn’t Require a Huge Cash Payment
04:18 What Is a Fair Price for a Nationalised Business?
05:07 What Is the Water Industry Actually Worth?
06:01 Why Investors May Have to Take a Haircut
06:57 The Real Cost of Nationalisation
07:48 How Nationalised Industries Could Cover the Cost
08:33 Three Reasons for Public Ownership
09:21 Why Nationalisation Should Return to the Political Agenda
TRANSCRIPT
A transcript for this video is available at: taxresearch.org.uk
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp
HOW TO SUPPORT US
Please consider donating: ko-fi.com/taxresearch
ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.
This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.
RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social
OR
ON MY BLOG: taxresearch.org.uk/Blog
HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS
Subscribe and get notified of new videos released.
INTRODUCTION: youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060
PLAYLISTS:
The Wealth Series
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobQLeyZYAagFDMjEFTKbhRD
Ecenomics
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob54Gs-fOL-8OAQ-IpduwB4
Britain
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobwTT4ATvJjsf8OO6S7wD10
Tax
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY
MMT
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX
Money
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m
Climate Change
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ
USA
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H
Labour
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw
The Trump Administration
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx
#Nationalisation #PublicOwnership #UKPolitics #UKEconomy #Economics #WaterIndustry #Privatisation
Nationalisation has become the word British politicians dare not say, and the reason they give is always the same: it is unaffordable.
They claim that just taking water back into public ownership would cost over £100 billion, but that claim is outright nonsense, and it is worth understanding exactly why.
The trick is in what "cost" means. When we nationalised industries in the 1940s, we did not hand over a mountain of cash. We paid with government bonds, typically at 3% interest, repayable over thirty years or more, and in practice then rolled into the national debt.
The real cost of nationalisation is, then, nothing more than the interest on those bonds, and a nationalised business bought at a fair price should always be able to cover that from its own surplus. There is, then, no cash payout, and no one is "buying" anything at a fantasy price.
What might that mean for the water industry? Private investors and lenders have sunk around £100 billion into it, but the industry is not worth that now. Its shares are often worthless, and a fair price would reflect its current, depreciated value. That means shareholders accept their losses and lenders would take a haircut, meaning they get back part of what they lent. They knew the risk when they invested in a privatised monopoly, and they should accept the consequence.
The case for doing this is straightforward. Nationalisation protects essential services that are too important to fail. It lets us invest in their future at the lowest possible cost, because government borrowing is cheaper than private borrowing. And it future-proofs water, rail, energy, and other sectors against a repeat of the calamities privatisation has already delivered.
Nationalisation is not the problem. The misinformation about its cost is.
Take a look at the poll below: youtube.com/post/UgkxmTvtrVV2kPfirRVtkcZAZtUsO4mwETk3
00:00 Why Is Nationalisation a Taboo?
00:50 Why Essential Services Cannot Be Allowed to Fail
01:42 The Myth That Nationalisation Is Unaffordable
02:34 How Britain Nationalised Industries After 1945
03:29 Why Nationalisation Doesn’t Require a Huge Cash Payment
04:18 What Is a Fair Price for a Nationalised Business?
05:07 What Is the Water Industry Actually Worth?
06:01 Why Investors May Have to Take a Haircut
06:57 The Real Cost of Nationalisation
07:48 How Nationalised Industries Could Cover the Cost
08:33 Three Reasons for Public Ownership
09:21 Why Nationalisation Should Return to the Political Agenda
TRANSCRIPT
A transcript for this video is available at: taxresearch.org.uk
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp
HOW TO SUPPORT US
Please consider donating: ko-fi.com/taxresearch
ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.
This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.
RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social
OR
ON MY BLOG: taxresearch.org.uk/Blog
HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS
Subscribe and get notified of new videos released.
INTRODUCTION: youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060
PLAYLISTS:
The Wealth Series
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobQLeyZYAagFDMjEFTKbhRD
Ecenomics
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob54Gs-fOL-8OAQ-IpduwB4
Britain
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobwTT4ATvJjsf8OO6S7wD10
Tax
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY
MMT
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX
Money
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m
Climate Change
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ
USA
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H
Labour
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw
The Trump Administration
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx
#Nationalisation #PublicOwnership #UKPolitics #UKEconomy #Economics #WaterIndustry #Privatisation
